Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God.

Before Prayer.

LORD, teach me to pray. Quicken me that I may call upon thy name.

Before Reading the Scriptures.

behold

OPEN thou mine eyes, that I may wondrous things out of thy law. Sanctify me through thy truth: thy word is truth. Going to Church.

How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

On going to Bed.

I WILL lay me down in peace, and take my rest; for it is thou, Lord, only, that makest me to dwell in safety.

K

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DEVOUT MEDITATIONS.

MEDITATION I.

On Communion with God in Secret.

[Bp. Ken. RETIRE, O my soul! from the busy world, and employ thyself about that for which thou wert created-the contemplation of thy God. I will hasten to my closet, or yonder solitary walk, and there, sequestered from a vexatious world, I will not suffer a single thought of it to approach me, unless by way of pity and contempt.

How delightful is it, O my soul! for thee to enjoy this sweet communion with thy God, and thus to dwell upon divine objects. Here am I safe, and at rest, in this dear place of quiet; and earnestly pity all the men of business and hurry, whose heads are full of perplexing con

trivances to procure a little happiness in a world where there is no such thing.

O blessed freedom! O charming solitude! I will grasp you, and I will hold you fast. The delight of silence and retreat! Here I can unburden my soul, and pour it out before my God. Here I can wrestle with the powers of heaven, and not let them go till I have obtained a blessing. Here I can confess my sins, and with hopes of comfort lay open my troubled breast before the merciful Hearer of my prayers.

MEDITATION II.

On the Willingness of the Saviour to receive the Penitent.

[Mrs. Holderness. HAVE the pangs of awakened conscience shewn thee thy guilt, thy folly? Art thou mourning over a sense of thy departures from God? Rest assured the hand of mercy has opened thine eyes. Have the tears of true repentance streamed over the contemplated picture of human guilt and human frailty? Oh! doubt not, then, the interest

of our compassionate Redeemer. Hast thou resolved that thou wilt, at the foot of the cross, lay down all worldly affections, and serve the true and living God? Oh! fear not, then; for thee has the body of the crucified Saviour been lifted on the cross, that thou, by looking thereto, mightest be healed.

MEDITATION III.

On the Love of the Saviour.

[Bp. Ken.

O GOD, my Saviour and my Lord, grant, I beseech thee, that the contemplations of thy dear love may ever inspire my inflamed heart with the zealous return of love to thee, my God, and with the most fervent charity to all the members of thy holy church, whether they are my friends or my causeless enemies. Oh, let me never, by the coldness of my affection for my neighbours and fellow-Christians, make myself unworthy of that love of thine which has now employed my meditations; and since without charity, no other virtue or

religious duty is acceptable in thy sight, let it be my daily exercise to attain it, that at length I may be a perfect proficient in the school of love, and my humble soul may breathe out nothing else; that no provocation or affronts of the most wilful malice may ever stir up in me the spirit of revenge, or abate my charity; but let this celestial fire of heavenly love ever burn in my fervent breast upon earth, till it is perfected at last in the blessed regions of eternal love.

MEDITATION IV.

God the Friend of his People.

[Rev. J. W. Cunningham.

How great a God is our God! How powerful and tender a friend is our Redeemer! He hath done all things well. He hath made both the haughty to tremble, and the miserable to rejoice. He hath spoken peace to our souls. We sail, indeed, amidst angry winds, upon a rough sea; but none of these things move us, while the Ruler of the storm is with us,